Thursday, April 16, 2009

hair


As a girl who studies her fair share of history (I just wrote four huge history papers this week, sorry I haven't been around much!), I like to really look into the roots of everything.
Lately I've been thinking about shaving, and I've really been wondering how I feel about it.
The origins of women shaving is widely debated.
Some debated reasons:
  • Women were made targets for marketing razors.
  • Shaving was used to make more of a differentiation between men and women. (um, hello. why can't men just have longer eyelashes than women and just be content with that?)
  • Shaving was mainly practiced by prostitutes because their clients wanted "youthful" concubines (aka, little girls). Later crossing over into the mainstream.


Now.
I don't really care where the origins come from in this case.
I am not a little girl, I am a woman. Do I really want to be involved with a practice that was originated by pervy men being turned on by the soft legs of little girls?
UM, NO.


I don't know how I feel about this. I don't like the origins, however, I don't like wearing skirts unless I have shaved legs either because I feel straight up unattractive to myself.
What the heck, social expectations and gender roles?
You are sending me on one heck of a hairy rollercoaster!
You suck!

3 comments:

Justin the Jaguar said...

One of my really good friends decided to dress as a girl for halloween. He went all out. He wore a bra, he put on lipstick, and yes he shaved his legs. He respects women more for enduring this kind of thing. Gender roles do go too far. They have forever. I always tell Jess that I don't care if she shaves her legs or not, but she feels grimy when she doesn't.

My best friend Reanna doesn't shave at all. She also braids her armpit hair.

Jem Baker said...

i think part of self-discovery is finding that which helps us define for ourselves what it means to be feminine, or masculine

Pootalatte said...

I haven't shaved my legs or pits in almost six years, and I fucking love it. The issue I have is with pubic areas. As a queer woman I have spent many a time in a woman's nether region so I myself like to keep it trimmed and neat just so I don't suffocate my lovers. But I have had multiple past lovers (mostly born males) that have asked me to shave my entire pubic region. Talk about perverted. It's downright disgusting and depressing, yet all too common.

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